Now, again I say this with "I loved the episode" but wanking about how much I liked it leads to no interesting questions. Did Zarek's actions, which I think were entirely in character, make the narative too easy to resolve morally or underscore the nature of revolutions.

To be honest, I think people's loyalty to Gaeta was the only reason the coup lasted as long as it did - if it was just Zarek on his own, he would've started wasting people way sooner, and he wouldn't even have gotten this far.

There will be some plot details from the recent episode in this post. If you don't want to be spoiled, don't look!

Remember when Zarek was first introduced - as a super dangerous, almost Hannibal Lecter-like maximum security prisoner? Remember how scared everyone was of his getting out? It took four seasons for him to get off the leash of circumstances far enough to turn around and bite. But he did it this episode. I was doubtful they were going to ever get to the promise of that character - but they got there. Yes they did.

And Gaeta & Baltar? That bit where Gaeta says he thought he was good he was a pretty good scientist, until he met Baltar. That moment where you see Baltar realize how badly he failed to respect Gaeta's hero worship, how he was long ago presented with an opportunity to make a man better and instead he failed that trust and made him worse... and how much he has always failed to return the respect owed the devotion others seem to give him... how he seems to be realizing that he has thrown away priceless treasure by scorning the hearts that always seem to open to him, however undeserving he has been... well, that is some unbelievable excellent combination of writing and acting.

Not really, no. For a power-hungry SOB who hides behind self-righteousness it was completely expected for him to execute people who try to stop him from gaining all the power he dreamed of his all life. Tom Zarek was a piece of vile excrement and he got what he deserved.

I did feel sorry for Gaeta in the end but this was the only thing that could happen to him when Adama 'got his ship back'. Had they done anything else to him, it would be lame.

Btw, that scene with Adama marching down the corridor with an ever-increasing number of crewmembers close behind him? Goosebumps!

@sandman I felt the same way about that corridor march. These last few episodes have been just awesome.

I think it's interesting the dilemmas that Gaeta went through and I loved how they didn't take the path that lesser shows would have probably taken. Specifically when Gaeta finds out that Zarek executed the quorum of twelve the writers could have easily had him turn on Zarek at that point but they didn't. I think at that point Gaeta realized just who it was he had gone to bed with and at the same time he had to begin to realize that it was all falling apart.

@oddbill Agreed on the Gaeta and Baltar scene. That was a beautiful scene.

Yeah, the Zareck's execution of the board does kinda tip the scales pretty divisively over to Adama in this--the only thing he really had going for him was the idea that the people had enough of Adama/Pres' secretive administration and that they didn't trust the rebel Cylons. After we see that they trust Zareck even less, it was all over.

And yeah, the scene between Baltar and Gaeta was pretty good--even for me, who hadn't seen all their drama, just knew they were part of New Caprica.

And yes, ditto on Romo. I was actually going to use that pun until I saw you use it, you bastard.

And I am really really wretched about Felix's end. He deserved better. A trial followed by incarceration. But then...alot of people died because of his decisions, whether he was directly to blame or not. But still. Felix deserved a better end than this.

What's weird is, thinking about it, how can one not agree with his position? Adama and Roslin have to see that right? They run everything based on "trust me." That's just not enough.

What was with Chief walking up to those huge scratches in the wall after disabling the FTL Drives? Was it just him realizing the ships maintenance, has gone to pot recently or was there some greater significance I am missing?

Earlier on Adama and Roslin were often at odds, Adama asserting military authority, and Roslin fighting for democratic government, and they didn't trust each other very much - but over the series crisis after crisis turned distrust to grudging respect to love, and now they trust each other implicitly.

The problem is, they seem to have forgotten that the people outside of their immediate circle don't have a window into the reasons for most of that trust, and they really do have to work harder to earn it from the wider fleet, especially in a time of ultimate disillusionment in the aftermath of Earth. From an outside perspective, the civilian government has just become a Public Relations arm of the military.

I liked that soldier's line "I've always respected you sir, but I hate the cylons. I can't take orders from a man who won't fight them." - and Adama let that guy live. I think he recognizes on some level that he really hasn't made his case, that he isn't giving aid and comfort to the cylons, but that they are giving aid and comfort to him. He responds better to honest, open dissent than to plotting and rebellion. But he still is sort of a despot.

It will be interesting to see what Roslin does with regard to the massacred government. I have a feeling she and Adama are past caring about the forms anymore, and will consolidate their authority under emergency powers.

Arguable, their whole existence post genocide has been one continuous emergency, so the justification, though real, is also thin.

All that said, in the context of events in the show that we know about but the general people in the fleet do not, they are probably making the best decisions for the survival of humanity.

It is a confounding, beautiful show. I'm also torn up over the end of Gaeta's story, though it couldn't have come out otherwise once he crossed that bridge. I blame Adama for Gaeta, more than the influence of Baltar or Zarek. Gaeta was always loyal to humanity. That loyalty is owed consideration. Adama didn't do enough to reassure him in the face of some highly suspicious turns of policy that he still had the same loyalty.

Remember when Zarek was first introduced - as a super dangerous, almost Hannibal Lecter-like maximum security prisoner? Remember how scared everyone was of his getting out? It took four seasons for him to get off the leash of circumstances far enough to turn around and bite. But he did it this episode. I was doubtful they were going to ever get to the promise of that character - but they got there. Yes they did

Yes they played this exceptionally well. It works even better with the sympathetic Zarek of early season 3. Because he is exactly the man you want on your side under those conditions, the issues are two fold 1) what he does when things resolve and 2) when he sees those conditions at a time you do not. The line between terrorist and revolutionary is often whose side of a moral issue you are on. The real question is this: what are they willing to do and what are you willing to live with. Zarek was willing do quite a lot. Geata forgot to ask that part of the question.

The problem is, they seem to have forgotten that the people outside of their immediate circle don't have a window into the reasons for most of that trust, and they really do have to work harder to earn it from the wider fleet, especially in a time of ultimate disillusionment in the aftermath of Earth. From an outside perspective, the civilian government has just become a Public Relations arm of the military.

An excellent point, and one which clears the moral complicity of everyone but the two men who faced the firing squad. At least to some degree.

A point stolen from another board:

The real key to the episode was people's humanity coming to the surface. The Cylons did not run. Kelly(?) did not shoot The Chief. Adama would not kill men in cold blood. Geata would not fire into the fleet. And for the record, I think it is well implied by the Baltar scene that their was either a trial or simply a confession form both men.